I celebrated my 26th birthday in Las Vegas three weekends ago. Lying out by the pool reminded me of one thing — I’m not a kid anymore. The younger girls that were standing around the pool in their tiny skirts and barely bikinis drove the point home even further; it has been 10 years since I was 16. Not that I feel like I’m old by any means. On the contrary, I know I’m still a hottie, with a great personality, who loves to do things. Still, I guess 16 is when the dreams began to solidify in my mind. I created the realm of what I expected of myself by the time I was 26. When you’re 16 the world is yours for the taking, and we all have these grandiose ideas of what life is going to be like when we’re older.My plan went above and beyond the average Josephine. I had it all planned out. I was going to graduate high school at 18, finish college by 22; join the Peace Corps, where I would clearly get stationed in Africa for two years, freelance write my way into becoming an environmental writer and be ready to settle down and get married at the ancient age of 25. This was so I could still be a young parent at 28.So far, the plan to date has seriously failed. Well, I guess I was ahead at the end of high school, I graduated at 17, but that’s more of a bad math issue than actually being ahead of the game. This is my second time giving the old college spin a whirl. I did get an A.A. degree at Butte Community College by 20, but I then went on to Chico State. I know it was my own fault, but most of what I learned in Chico was a degree in drinking and having fun. There are some, including Sac State’s own Senior Writer of Public Affairs, Frank Whitlatch, who told me that he made it out of Chico in four years flat! Still, I wouldn’t change those years for the world because it was a great learning experience. The learning continued soon after leaving Chico, as in: now learn how to survive without financial aid, parental support or a degree, and then see how much fun you have living entirely on your own. For some, my young ambitions may not be that far from reality. A girl I work with recently got married and she is only 19; she says this is not that unusual for her culture. Now the humor begins in my workplace with comments of, “Chris, you’re next, right?” Uh well, not necessarily folks, kind of still working on that education thing … still. And I swear it’s not relationship phobia, I’m actually dating a rather nice man…who lives in Utah. Eh hmm, back to my point. The ideas that are built into our heads at an early age that we must hurry through everything, and then hurry to get married, have kids and settle down are ideals that singles my age have been learning to let go of a little. So many things happened in my life that never would have if I hadn’t strayed from my precisely outlined plan. It seems that when you’re young, marriage is the goal. Something most girls can’t wait to do. At 16 though, the goal was to find the hottest, funniest, and sweetest guy. Brains were a limiting factor as the whole game plan was more about, well, having a boyfriend than a mate for life. The guy who works at the theater is no longer the man of my dreams, and if the guy I end up with is brilliant, articulate and caring it means a whole hell of a lot more now than just the nice body no brains thing that was huge as a teenager.The world becomes a scary but exciting place when you open the doors to living your life. Getting back to your dreams, the ones that count, and personal happiness is what matters.Sitting on my lounge chair at Mandalay Bay, in Vegas, waiting for a my partner to return from a business meeting while drinking a Corona, smoking my Winston Light, reading his newly finished book and attempting to edit it I realize; I am very happy. My cell phone goes off. I chat with my friend who nearly died while in Chico, and I smile having her still in my life for all the happiness our friendship has brought. I think of home and the rest of my family both blood and heart felt, and share with my friend the excitement that school will be starting soon and that I am, really, almost done. Not everything works out the way we planned it. And yes, I’m a year older. Granted not old enough to lie about my age, but definitely older. I wouldn’t change a thing. Plans change and so do dreams. I will be applying for the Peace Corps next semester and I plan to drag Utah along. Life goes on. Unfulfilled dreams do not necessarily mean an unfulfilled life. If you’re happy then you’re doing a lot better than most. As my friend said, we now know that life is about the journey, as ‘the wheel in the sky keeps on turning,’ eventually we’ll have our experience and our diplomas.